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Creaking & clunking from front end at low speeds; beginning to wander. 94k. Control arms? :-/

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Old 12-17-2003, 11:05 AM
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Creaking & clunking from front end at low speeds; beginning to wander. 94k. Control arms? :-/
Old 12-17-2003, 11:07 AM
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Default A few things to check........

Check your tie rod end boots, if they aren't torn and have no play, lube the swaybar bushings. Even my OEM rubber ones make strange noises if they don't have some grease. Not sure where you live, but the cold weather makes it worse here.

Worth trying before you drop big bucks. If the problem remains, it could be control arms. Are yours original?
Old 12-17-2003, 11:09 AM
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Second the tie rod end check. Easy to check and easy/cheap to replace.
Old 12-17-2003, 11:14 AM
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Default I'm swapping wheels later tonight, so I'll pull & tug around while I'm under there. (m)...

Yup - it's cold here. I'm a 1/2 hour north of AWE - I saw your car there at the last dyno day.

Thanx. :-)
Old 12-17-2003, 11:39 AM
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Default More likely than not...yes.

It's about that time. Check with PaJohn...he's the S4 spiritual advisor as we enter the ranks of "old age".
Old 12-17-2003, 11:51 AM
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Default Another Possibility...

Sway bar links.

They're a lot cheaper than control arms to replace, too. On mine everything in the front end with a ball joint went to hell around 100K
Old 12-17-2003, 12:31 PM
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Probably control arms, i just replaced 2 and tie rods at 74k.
Old 12-17-2003, 01:09 PM
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Default $175/tie rod i don't see as cheap really, especially if you have to do that...

and control arms, and sway bar links. adds up pretty quick.
Old 12-17-2003, 01:21 PM
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Default Tie Rod **END** is usually the culprit. Those are $39 each at ECS Tuning.

No need to replace the whole tie rod usually, as it's just the ball joint on the end that typically fails.

Andy
Old 12-17-2003, 05:21 PM
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Default ~$50 each at IMPEX for the whole tie rod. I'd suggest replacing it all, because...

You'll find that the ends corrode to the rest of the tie rod, and are a NIGHTMARE to break loose. You'll save a ton of labor if you just replace the whole tie rod. Any car with bad ends probably has enough miles on it that it's certain to have a corrosion issue. In fact, my frame/alignment guy stopped doing just the ends on Audis. He said the problem is so widespread, that they will only replace the tie rod as a complete unit.


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